For as long as he can remember, Corey Wagner has dreamed of playing AFL football at the Gabba.
And at 29, that’s a long time for the grandson of Gary Wagner, an AFL Queensland Hall of Famer, son of Scott Wagner, a Sandgate/North Brisbane 200-gamer and captain of the 1987 Brisbane Bears Development Squad, and brother of Josh Wagner, a Melbourne 42-gamer.
It’s been a wait that has included a lot of occasions when it would have seemed so close.
Like when he was a member of the Brisbane Lions Academy, and could have joined the Lions had they Lions matched a bid for him at pick #43 in the 2015 National Draft.
Or during eight AFL games with North Melbourne in 2016-17, or when he played 11 games at Melbourne in 2019-20. Or any time since 2023, while he’s played 48 games with Fremantle in his third stint as an AFL player.
He was almost on the plane in Round 7 2023, having played his first two games in purple in Rounds 5-6, but was dropped after a bad loss to the Western Bulldogs in Perth.
And since then, Fremantle have not played the Lions in Brisbane. That is, until Saturday’s 4.15pm clash with the Lions at the Gabba.
The Dockers will come to Brisbane on a club record 10-game winning streak and sitting on top of the AFL ladder to face a Brisbane side who is coming off a hard loss to GWS in Sydney last weekend.
There will be “about 20” members of the Wagner family on hand on Saturday afternoon, according to Scott Wagner. And while they might be small in number they will be right behind a Wagner who has made massive strides in the last couple of years, and now sits very comfortably in a star-studded Fremantle line-up.
Corey Wagner #3 is an entirely different player to Wagner #1 and Wagner #2 who lived game to game in the early years of his AFL career at North and Melbourne.
Why? Because he feels like he belongs in Fremantle. And because he feels ‘valued’.
There was no bigger confirmation than last year when Wagner was assigned the tagging role on Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos. And told by coach Justin Longmuir “stop worrying – we know you can do the job - just go out and play”.
Speaking at a club function to launch the 2026 season in March, Wagner told of his deep appreciation for the club, and the significant bond he had formed with the jumper after the confidence coach Longmuir had shown in him.
"The club took a chance on me, and ever since coming here I’ve felt valued and welcomed, and not just me but my family also,” he said.
Wagner’s success in Perth is a triumph for Fremantle recruiting boss David Walls, son of ex-Bears coach and new Lions Hall of Fame Legend Robert Walls, who took a punt on him at #57 in the 2022 National Draft after he’d played at Port Melbourne in the VFL.
Walls has seen Wagner grow not just on the field, but off the field too. His family now includes wife Michaela and 18-month-old son Remy, with a second child due in July. And all are travelling to Brisbane this week.
Easily identified by a scruffy blonde beard and a ponytail, Wagner will wear the #34 jumper which has been the identifying tag at Fremantle by, among others, fellow Queenslander and 120-game Docker Lee Spurr, 2008 All-Australian Paul Medhurst, and 2004 All-Australian Jeff White, who has recently joined the AFLW coaching staff at the Lions.
Having worn #41 at North and #40 at Melbourne, and #34 in his first three years at Fremantle, Wagner was offered #17 this year.
It was tempting, given that his grandfather and his father wore #17, but he opted to stick with the jumper that had served him well for the past three years. It just felt right.
It says much about the ‘new’ Wagner that he has played 10 of a possible 11 games this year, and after missing Round 10 against Essendon due to injury, he went straight back into the side for last week’s home clash with Port Adelaide.
He’s an automatic pick now, playing primarily on the wing in a side that has won 10 games on the trot after a 10-point loss to Geelong in Geelong in Round 1.
As odd as it might seem for locals, Wagner will come ‘home’ to Brisbane one of the Dockers’ oldest players. Against St Kilda last week only Mason Cox (35), Oscar McDonald (30), Luke Ryan (30) and Sam Switkowski (29) were older.
And having missed the Dockers’ 2025 finals campaign after an injury in the last game of the home-and-away season, his first AFL final could be only three months away.
Wagner was one of only three Queenslanders to enjoy a win in Round 11 of the AFL season last weekend. He had 15 possessions and four score involvements in the Dockers’ five-goal win over Fremantle in Perth on Friday night.
Mabior Chol, returning to the Hawthorn side after a six-week layoff with a hamstring problem, had eight possessions, a goal and six tackles in a nine-point win over Adelaide, and Connor Budarick had 20 disposals in the Western Bulldogs’ three-point win over Melbourne at Marvel Stadium.
On a disappointing weekend for the Queensland sides, Sam Marshall had 21 possessions and a team-high 22 pressure acts in the Lions’ loss to GWS, while Jaspar Fletcher had 25 possessions, Levi Ashcroft 24 possessions, and Harris Andrews 13 possessions, a team-high nine intercept possessions and five contested marks – an outstanding effort given that Jayden Laverde’s two contested marks for GWS was next best.
And in the SUNS’ last-kick loss to North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium, Jed Walter kicked three goals to be arguably the best of the Queenslanders.